SR1IN0201

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FOREWORD....................................................................................................................... 1
GENERAL PAPER.............................................................................................................. 2
GCE Advanced Subsidiary Level .................................................................................................................. 2
Paper 8001/01 General Paper ...................................................................................................................... 2
Paper 8001/02 Paper 2 ................................................................................................................................. 6
This booklet contains reports written by Examiners on the work of candidates in certain papers. Its contents
are primarily for the information of the subject teachers concerned.
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GCE Advanced Subsidiary Level
Paper 8001/01
General Paper
General comments
Use of English
Some candidates present scripts in tiny writing, which can pose difficulties for Examiners struggling to
interpret the script.
Many scripts contain too much repetition, particularly of phrases taken from the body of the essay and
reiterated in the conclusion. The purpose of a conclusion is to summarise.
Spelling and punctuation continue to improve, but candidates would be well advised not to take into the
examination with them a list of vocabulary that they are determined to utilise, whether or not such usage is
appropriate. The desire to impress Examiners is understandable but what is looked for is relevance,
together with apposite expression.
There has also been evidence of a new trend within essay writing that is not to be encouraged, the use of
abbreviations. This tends to accompany a more colloquial style of expression, which is not the approach that
would be expected in an academic essay.
Areas where Centres can aid their candidates in grammatical technique include: the use of the plural where
the singular would be more appropriate; the misplacement of the apostrophe; the use of the hyphen; the
erroneous use of mixed tenses within a sentence; and finally the tendency to write tautologically.
General content
Last years report identified concern that candidates appeared to be selecting questions from predominantly
the first half of the Paper, indicating that perhaps selections were being made in haste, as soon as a familiar
topic was spotted. Any such decision taken on impulse was to be discouraged and it was heartening to see
in this session that questions were attempted from all areas of the Paper.
There are two things that are lacking from many essays namely, balance and exemplification. These are
still the major areas that need to be addressed.
The wording of a question always contains direction for candidates. It is crucial that they take time to
examine closely what the question is asking for, identifying the key or command words. More detail about
this follows in the detailed assessment of questions. When the thrust of the question is located, the
candidate needs to keep in mind the need to present a balanced argument or assessment. This balance is
invariably aided by the use of plenty of relevant examples.
Most candidates are now aware of the need to define terms or the focus of the essay and this has resulted in
much improved opening sections.
There are still those candidates who see a topic and write everything they know about it, offering a type of
blanket cover, whereas what is needed is attention to the wording within the question.
Candidates should always ensure that they have enough time to reread what they have written and correct
minor errors of style and expression.
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As a final point in this section it is always a pleasure to read such a variety of answers that have ample
evidence of determination to convey knowledge and opinion and generally reflect an awareness of the world
in which we live. Examiners are impressed by breadth of viewpoint and the desire to expand experience
through tackling subjects from a cross-curricular basis, which is one of the major strengths of this Paper and
the candidature.
In conclusion, Centres may like to know that Examiners enjoyed reading the responses of candidates on the
whole and remain impressed by the breadth of knowledge and interest displayed. The combination of
awareness and a desire to express this in lucid terms are the hallmarks of General Paper.
Comments on specific questions
Paper 1
Question 1
How far do you agree that people from history considered great rarely deserve the title?
Despite the comment earlier that candidates are getting better at defining terms, this question did attract a
number of responses where a definition was not proffered. These essays were not able to rise above the
bottom end of an average mark for content.
There was an over-heavy concentration on Hitler, seen as the universal heavyweight and evil figure from the
last century yet without a supporting definition of greatness, this could not be verified. Greatness can be
evaluated in a variety of ways, both positive and negative, but candidates needed to link their assessment to
one or the other.
Many took war-time leaders as the focus of this question; in fact peace figures, such as Mother Theresa or
Princess Diana, would have had relevance here. Even more interesting would have been any consideration
of personalities who have crossed a divide, such as Nelson Mandela from the role of freedom
fighter/terrorist to premier and man of world peace. The difficulty with war leaders in the Hitler camp was
that many candidates were prompted to offer emotive responses, without objective supportive
exemplification and, as a consequence, balance was abandoned.
Question 2
Not too much, nor too little. To what extent is this a basis for a fulfilled life?
This was an abstract question that did not attract many responses; those who did attempt it saw the need to
define the term but many took the opportunity to write at length from an anecdotal point of view. Their
selected criteria were from food, drink, work, money and sex.
What the question needed was a balanced evaluation of the dangers of over-indulgence and under-
provision. Few presented both. Many concentrated on over-indulgence, especially in terms of eating and
obesity.
There was a tendency to preach about the amorality of excess. Simple examples would have given this
approach more weight, for example the transmission of sexual diseases in a promiscuous society.
Question 3
Assess the most important areas for government spending
This was a very popular question and was largely answered in an informed and systematic way.
The key command word in the question was most and this directed candidates to make an order of priority
in their response.
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Health and education were universally addressed as the most important issues, closely followed by work-
force provision and defence. It was interesting to see the various and differing national perspectives coming
out in essays. Many were able to offer viewpoints that were at variance with national policy and substantiate
them from a theoretical/academic basis. These candidates achieved high marks for content due to
perceptive and mature discussion.
It was rare to find any comparative analysis between developed and developing nations.
Question 4
Education divides, rather than unites society. Discuss.
There was almost universal agreement with the statement.
This question required candidates to discuss the importance of education, not merely to consider private
versus state schooling, or good universities versus bad ones.
Some took the focus as a class issue, those who can afford the luxury of education and those who need that
education in order to be able to have that debate.
The values of education to inform and promote a breadth of tolerance and understanding were frequently
overlooked for the worthy but more prosaic attributes of respect and discipline.
There was a pleasing incidence of east/west comparisons.
Question 5
Can scientists ever justify being involved in weapon research?
There was a categorical and sweeping assertion that weapon research is wrong, because war is wrong and
aggression is wrong, but that it is inevitable. The most commonly cited examples of this were Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in the Second World War, which were portrayed as the epitome of evil. Many held the scientists
responsible for the work that resulted in these bombs as abominations to humanity. There were too many
emotive and impassioned tirades, which have no real value in an academic essay, without the opposite
viewpoint being considered.
It was notable that almost no candidates mentioned any beneficial spin-offs from weapons research, for
example radar, telecommunications, medical advances etc. Had even one of these been considered, some
balance would have been found.
Some candidates seem to believe that scientists are motivated by a spirit of malevolence. No one
mentioned the concept of research in the name of scientific exploration and experimentation.
Question 6
Is there any point in predicting the weather when we can have no control over it?
Many candidates merely described the changes in the weather patterns due to global warming. This
appeared to be a prepared topic.
The overall impression was that candidates viewed this as an easy option, and the response was
disappointingly mundane. Planning what to wear on a trip, or the need for an umbrella were interwoven with
shipping forecasts and harvest planning.
Few saw the benefits of warnings to evacuate, to make provision within building regulations or to protect
infrastructure, for social or economic reasons.
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Question 7
There are more advantages to living in the countryside than in the town. Discuss.
This was a very popular question.
There were some bucolic descriptions that became carried away by their own rhetoric, the birds singing and
the grass swaying in the unpolluted breeze often repeated to little real purpose.
The real problem that arose here was that a list of advantages of one area was simply reversed into
disadvantages in the other, whether or not there were genuine differences: there was often no attempt at
evaluation or comparative analysis.
Question 8
Children should be the product of nature, not of science. Do you agree?
It was apparent here that candidates looked at the wording of the question and made their responses on the
basis of their initial reaction, without stopping to look further. Most saw it as an opportunity to discuss
cloning, few realised that the remit was much broader, that is, infertility treatment, the dilemma of the infertile
etc. as opposed to the natural procreative function which, it is assumed, everyone can achieve.
Hardly anyone examined the issues of fostering or adoption, which, even if not common in the home society,
are a regular feature of media from the west.
Those candidates who did consider the ethical dimensions tended to achieve higher awards for content.
Those who offered a religious perspective were able largely to substantiate their beliefs, at least in terms of
supporting them from religious teaching.
Again balance was essential here, as directed by the wording of the question.
Question 9
Do languages spoken by relatively few people have a place in the modern world?
There were few answers seen to this question.
Those who did attempt it tried to rewrite the question to suit a discussion of the merits of English as a
universal language.
Examiners had hoped to find a consideration of the cultural integrity of language; it is, after all, the hallmark
of a society, giving regional and societal identity.
Question 10
Only the rich can afford works of art. How far is this true?
Hardly any candidates chose this question. Those who did were able to offer their opinions on the
materialism of the rich who will gather works of art for the sake of investment. Yet there was a complete lack
of exemplification to support the argument no examples of major works of art, or artists, that are
collectable, and no rich patrons named.
Question 11
Fiction has nothing to do with real life. Discuss.
Almost above all others this question demanded some examples. Very few were forthcoming, which
considerably weakened the essays that were submitted.
All the candidates saw the link between real life and the vehicle of fiction to convey a message or an
experience, many saw the utilisation of fiction as an interpretation of modern day values.
Without the support of examples, these answers were weak and insubstantial.
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Question 12
Assess the qualities to be found in a good advertisement.
Many candidates became too concerned with the methodology of advertising rather than the features or
qualities.
Equally this question needed examples to support the points made, and apart from the ubiquitous
McDonalds, none were forthcoming. There was no requirement to focus exclusively on examples from
global advertising, it would have been interesting to read about local advertising. Yet the vast majority
offered neither, which seriously weakened the essays.
This was a straightforward question and one that could have been attempted by academic high fliers and
those who preferred a more observational approach too. We are all members of a consumer society, to
varying degrees, so this should have been an issue on which everyone has an opinion.
Paper 8001/02
Paper 2
General comments
Question 1 attracted appreciably more takers than either Question 2 or Question 3, although the appeal of
each option varied from Centre to Centre. It is hard to understand why, year in, year out, quite a formidable
comprehension exercise should be favoured by the whole range of candidates in preference to other
possibly more congenial and less linguistically demanding assignments. What, then, accounts for the
enduring popularity of Question 1? One tentative explanation is that some anxious candidates are so
desperate to come to grips with the Paper that they become mesmerised by what meets their eye first and
never explore further. It is even more likely that others may feel far more comfortable with an exercise for
which one can, to some extent, be prepared, than with anything that is more difficult to anticipate. On this
occasion, certainly, both Question 2 and Question 3 did contain elements that had never before appeared
in this Paper although candidates have often been asked to consider the merits or otherwise of competing
applicants or schemes. Again, the allocation of marks may be such in Question 1 that candidates who have
fared badly in one section may retrieve the situation in another, whereas a poor performance in either
Question 2 (a) or Question 2 (b) could seriously jeopardise their overall mark for content. Finally, some
candidates might well have shied away from certain exercises in this particular Question 3 because they
were not absolutely sure what was required. Speculation apart, a considered choice of question after a
thorough perusal of the whole Paper is as essential a feature of examination technique as is the effective
management of time.
Whereas there was no evidence that any candidates had insufficient time in which to finish the Paper, what
they did with the time at their disposal sorted the sheep from the goats. It was almost invariably the case
that candidates who had the self-discipline to make methodical notes or rough drafts before writing out their
final answers achieved relatively high marks. Others tackled questions cold, got into obvious difficulties and
had to cross out part or all of what they had written and start again. While their second thoughts were
usually productive, their written expression tended to deteriorate as did the presentation of their work. Much
more alarming, however, was that even more candidates than usual appeared to suffer from the
misconception that the more they wrote the higher their mark would be, mini-essays often materialising
despite the instruction to be brief or indications of a word-limit in the rubric. Hence, in yet another Principal
Examiners Report it has to be stated that an answer receives no more credit once it becomes obvious that
the candidate has blatantly disregarded considerations of length. Even where there are no explicit
instructions on this matter, candidates should make some attempt to equate the expected length of answer
with the mark on offer. Finally, candidates are not only wasting time by producing diffuse responses but they
are running the risk of forfeiting marks, in that legitimate points may well be introduced too late to register
with the Examiner who has quite rightly moved on to the next answer.
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Irrelevance, too, was a major cause for concern this year. All too often, it was impossible to award any kind
of mark when a question had been completely misunderstood. In this regard, weaker candidates frequently
failed to establish exactly what they should have been doing when tackling Question 2 (a) and (c),
Question 3 (c)(i) and (ii). Elsewhere, largely peripheral answers achieved little as when, in
Question 1 (a)(i) and (iv), candidates overlooked the key phrase general point in the wording and
contented themselves with unselective detail. Lastly, extensive lifting rather than the use of a candidates
own words frequently marred what in other respects was a creditable response to Question 1 (b). Here,
again, a little more forethought would have paid handsome dividends.
All the evidence above, then, goes to show that the best candidates spend much more time reading and
thinking and much less time writing than their less successful peers. However, it was very rare for more than
one question to be attempted. In this respect, at least, previous warnings do seem to have been taken to
heart.
Comments on specific questions
Question 1
Although the passage set for comprehension featured a scientific topic, it was written for the lay person
rather than for anyone with a specialist knowledge of genetic engineering. Hence, its content should not
have been inaccessible to any candidate. It did, however, presuppose an ability to draw inferences from a
series of specific examples and it was this that most candidates electing to answer Question 1 lacked.
(a)(i) As indicated above, candidates offered far too much detail, often in the form of loose paraphrase,
and failed to identify clearly the two general ways in which modern life would have been impossible
without traditional genetic modification. Despite some confusion between the selective breeding of
bygone times and modern genetic engineering, the possibility of starvation usually featured, if only
obliquely. Comparatively few candidates, however, understood the significance of the second point
while, in almost every response, the negative slant to the question was ignored.
(ii) This proved to be the most difficult question in the whole Paper perhaps because a large number of
candidates mistook respects for examples. Be that as it may, many brief explanations extended
beyond 250 words, most candidates hazily focusing on product rather than on process. Candidates
who were wide of the mark based their answer on the second paragraph and concentrated on
previous achievements rather than on modern developments. Others wrote much the same answer
as they were to produce for (iii), without further elaboration of the scale of the process involved.
Only a few astute candidates identified the immediacy of modern genetic engineering.
(iii) By way of contrast, reasonably sound answers were the norm, with most candidates offering
acceptable definitions of the processes of isolation, implantation and modification, and with the best
showing a great deal of understanding of what was entailed.
(iv) As in (i) and (ii), many candidates could not see the wood for the trees but stumbled across the idea
of better food amongst the technical data.
(b) Although the weaker candidates wasted words at the beginning by outlining the case for genetic
engineering, the majority of candidates, on this occasion at least, observed the specified word limit.
Extensive lifting was often resorted to but virtually every candidate was able to identify and describe
some of the more obvious disadvantages. Points, though, were frequently laboured or made
piecemeal. A few misguided candidates totally ignored the passage and explained their own
objections.
(c) The general impression was that candidates all too often threw away marks by not complying with
the various rubrics although only a handful had a shot at all eight definitions and all eight sentences.
(i) The most common infringements of rubric were to attempt more than one definition for each word
and to disregard the context of the passage. In the first instance, no mark would have been secured
had complacent been defined as lenient before it was defined as self-satisfied. In the second
instance, no mark would have been secured had tolerance been defined as acceptance, which it
often means, rather than as resistance, which it means in this particular extract. Unsuccessful
definitions ranged from near misses such as intelligence for ingenuity and consistency for
composition to wild guesses such as important for ethical and taste for texture.
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(ii) As always, it was an extremely rewarding experience to gain such an insight into the attitudes and
lifestyles of candidates with such varied backgrounds from their writing of illustrative sentences,
some spontaneous, others obviously rehearsed. Bland answers, though, which did not
unambiguously establish meaning received no credit, an example being Mohit was complacent
about his examination result where complacent could equally aptly have been replaced by angry,
happy, anxious, fretting and a thousand other substitutes. By the same token, answers which
featured an altered form of a given word, such as exploited, exploiting, tolerate or ethically, or
used the given word as a different part of speech, as in Her greatest exploit was to recite the 2000-
line poem, failed to score a mark. Again, if a word was used with a different meaning from that
applied in the passage, for instance, capacity meaning volume rather than ability, no mark was
forthcoming. Finally, candidates from a few Centres still chose to write more than one sentence in
each instance while others plagiarised the passage itself to no avail.
Question 2
Although having to choose to appoint one of three inappropriate applicants might well be nerveracking in
reality, there was ample material to compose a convincing justification for any decision. The most perceptive
candidates, realising that they were expected to make the best of a bad job, backed the elderly Basil for the
post on the grounds that he would be the easiest to replace in due course. They were also not taken in by
Elviras glowing but irrelevant references, saw what the visiting speaker to her womens event was driving at
and appreciated that bombarding the National Gallery with e-mails might indicate an impossibly fussy
colleague rather than one who was simply eager to secure the position. The less sophisticated candidates,
however, took all the material with which they were provided at face value.
(a) A disturbing number of candidates did not read the question properly and wrote about their favourite
applicant rather than about the applicant they would be least likely to select. Such carelessness cost
them dear in (b) as well in that it concerned itself with what they had already written about and,
therefore, were unlikely to introduce a second time. Be that as it may, while there were many
shrewd and mature answers which marshalled the given information extremely effectively, there
were even more which simply copied out the appropriate facts in the order in which they had
originally been listed. Others latched on to one obvious disadvantage, such as Elviras lack of formal
qualifications in Art, and never went on to consider anything else, everything written being variations
on the one theme. Whereas most candidates who rejected Thomas appreciated his shortcomings,
those who criticised Basil tended to treat him as a dissolute reprobate or a geriatric and showed no
understanding of his previous background, his having been a famous art critic, in particular, being
seen as black mark against him.
(b) With the exceptions mentioned above, few candidates completely missed the point of the exercise
though a significant number omitted all reference to their second string while others perversely
reintroduced the applicant they had already rejected in (a). The most successful responses
compared and contrasted the applicants from a succession of interrelated but different
perspectives rather than considering each applicant in isolation from the other. A few assumed
criteria that had certainly not occurred to the Examiners, such as only a woman would be suitable
as an Assistant Curator, while ageism cropped up when many candidates dismissed the incredibly
young Thomas (35) and the impossibly old Basil (62).
(c) Unlike the previous two questions, one of this order had never been set before. In the event,
candidates tended not to take into account what they knew of their successful applicant though
whoever they had chosen would have had some easily identifiable chinks in his or her armour. On
occasion, then, they fell back on such general questions as Are you sure you will be able to do the
job? or Why do you want this job? without hinting at the identity of the interviewee. Even more
inept, though, was a question such as What is the Mona Lisa? which would hardly stump Basil or
even Thomas. It would have been exceedingly difficult indeed to produce any kind of convincing
justification for such questions and none materialised. Elsewhere, a shrewd enough question
seemed less impressive when the candidate simply concluded, without any further elaboration, that
he or she had asked it because it will show whether they really want the job.
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Question 3
As was the case with Question 1 and Question 2, careful reading of and reflection on Question 3 would
have significantly enhanced the quality of the work based on it. The whole exercise involved balancing
priorities, each worthwhile in itself but needing to be placed within a wider context. The most successful
candidates, therefore, took pains to come to terms with the general situation, the possibility of creating a vast
source of water at the expense of much else, before attempting to assess some of the twelve individual
points. They also made sure that they interpreted the rubrics with all the commonsense at their disposal. At
the other end of the spectrum, the weakest candidates never achieved a sense of perspective while they
selected more than one point for comment on every possible occasion, regardless of what the rubric might
indicate.
(a) As anticipated, most of those who produced a relevant answer picked one of the following as the
least important point to be taken into consideration when discussing the Aat Dam Project: Garbaks
verse, Hajek Isaats origins and the rare butterflies habitat. Simple assertion rather than reasoned
argument characterised the less successful attempts to justify this choice but the most effective
responses showed a keen awareness of the contrast between such factors and the major priorities.
When other issues were chosen, it was usually apparent that their significance had not been
appreciated by the candidates. So, for instance, there was sometimes no connection between
unemployment in Chumjuk and employment on the Aat Darn Project.
(b) Candidates were at liberty to regard any one of the remaining points as the most important and
most, in fact, accorded the prevention of drought and disease the top priority. The most competent
candidates, then, worked out the advantageous consequences on the economy of their elimination.
Misconceptions, however, abounded. It was quite common for candidates to fail to realise that the
Aat Dam Project would drown the valley so that agriculture would be impossible while the famous
ancient buildings would disappear unless physically moved to another site. Again, some
candidates wrongly jumped to the conclusion that Bechwar already imported water from
neighbouring countries.
(c) Apart from failing to comment on one and the same point in both Question 3 (e)(i) and
Question 3 (c)(ii), the less successful candidates tended to lack sophistication and to invite
rebuttal in their answers.
(i) A fair number of candidates argued, plausibly enough, that if anyone was to suffer as a result of the
Aat Dam Project, it should be them rather than us. In many answers, though, support for the
Aat Dam Project was equated with support for the government, which, in fact, had yet to make up
its mind, while human rights rarely came into the picture. When they did, the argument tended to
lack conviction as when candidates ignored the whole tenor of the given material by claiming that it
was in the best interests of the Fawis for them to be uprooted and forced out of their isolation.
When dealing with Hajek Isaat, the leader of the main opposition party, it did not occur to many
candidates that he might not have any affection for or even be living in his birthplace any longer or
that he might happen to be in favour of the Aat Dam Project, regardless of politics.
(ii) Despite some confusion over relations with Everek, most candidates appreciated that flooding the
Dunno valley would aggravate political or racial tensions. Where they gained or lost marks was in
the cogency or otherwise of their argument.
(d) Just as happened in Question 1 (b), candidates who floundered elsewhere were on firmer ground
once they reached a straightforward and predictable question requiring them to present the case
for or against a particular development although a few unfortunates wrote on both sides. When
their performance was disappointing, it was because they had failed to enlarge on the original
material, which they merely put into their own words, or to give it a dynamic structure.